LoveHearts
by Kurenai Tenka
Summary: [Will never be completed and I no longer hold myself responsible for this XD] Tifa still loves Cloud, but Cloud still loves Aeris. Still, Tifa goes to the gang's reunion, with the promise of seing Cloud again....
1. Reminisce

Part 1-Reminisce  
  
Tifa sat on the end of her bed. "Tomorrow is the day," She mumbled. "Tomorrow is the day," She said again.  
  
She lay back onto the bed. After two years of waiting, the day had almost arrived. The day when she would see them all again.  
  
Two years. It had been two whole years since meteor had almost destroyed them all, and two years since holy had saved them.  
  
Tifa thought back to that day, to after it had been established that that they were alive, they had survived, and that the earth, had been saved.  
  
*****************  
  
They were all standing around the airship in disbelief.  
  
Cid suddenly broke the silence. "We've saved the world..." he said, in a shocked, almost disbelieving way.  
  
"Holy saved us," Tifa corrected, smiling.  
  
"No." Cloud said. He walked past them and stood in a corner staring at nothing in particular. "Aeris Did"  
  
Barret walked up to Cloud and put his hand on Clouds shoulder. "We'll never forget her," He said quietly Cloud shrugged away from Barret. "Whatever" he said, as though he didn't care.  
  
...It was painfully obvious he did...  
  
Another long silence followed.  
  
"So what now?" Red asked "We all go our own separate ways," said Cloud  
  
Tifa glanced over at Yuffie, who was biting her lips, tears forming in her eyes. "Yuffie...?"  
  
"But, won't we ever see each other again???" shouted Yuffie  
  
Nobody knew what to say to her.  
  
"Well???" she yelled  
  
"Yeh" Cloud smiled "Why not..."  
  
Everyone turned to Cloud.  
  
"What do you mean?" Tifa asked, hoping he meant what she thought he meant.  
  
"Lets meet up again...like...a reunion" He said with uncharacteristic optimism.  
  
Yuffie smiled one of her usually wide toothy grins  
  
"When?" She said positively jumping up and down  
  
"How about..." Cloud said, whilst pacing slowly.  
  
"Two years."  
  
"What?????"  
  
Many of the people around Cloud began yelling at him, trying to tell him what was wrong with that length of time in loud voices.  
  
"Sounds fine" Said Vincent, walking towards the controls.  
  
"Cid? Can I get off this airship?"  
  
Cid turned from the arguing to Vincent.  
  
"Yeh sure...where'd you wanna be?"  
  
Vincent stood there for a moment, deep in thought.  
  
"Wutai" he finished  
  
Yuffie, who had been watching the whole conversation between Vincent and Cid gasped quietly. Wutai? He was going to Wutai?????  
  
"Drop me there too will ya Cid?" she said, suddenly standing next to Cid.  
  
"Erm, sure"  
  
"Great!"  
  
Vincent glanced over at Yuffie, who was watching him, and for the split second before he turned away, he saw her smile at him.  
  
"HEY!"  
  
Cid tried to yell over the people arguing with each other over Clouds decision, and failed miserably.  
  
"SHUT THE HELL UP!!!!" He yelled  
  
They all turned.  
  
Cid, with everyone's attention turned to him, he asked,  
  
"Where do ya all wanna be then?"  
  
The group all suddenly went quiet, except for Red; "Back home-Cosmo Canyon"  
  
Barret thought, and then said, "I have to go to Midgar, get Marlene. Really missin' her"  
  
"Fine" Said Cid. "Tifa" He asked, turning to her  
  
"Erm..." Tifa glanced at Cloud, what was he going to say?  
  
"Tifa?" Cid prompted  
  
"Oh!" Tifa's head snapped up, torn away from her thoughts.  
  
Thinking fast, where to go? Sector 7 was destroyed. Her home had been destroyed when the plate had dropped. Getting out of Midgar was a good idea though. But she had no idea where to go, or whom to turn to.  
  
"Well...?"  
  
"Nibelheim!" She blurted out suddenly  
  
Cloud stared at her.  
  
"Nibelheim....?" he repeated  
  
"Nibelheim." She said smiling.  
  
"I...want to go there again...I want to go back"  
  
Cloud stared blankly at her for a while, then shrugged and turned away.  
  
...........He didn't seem to care..............  
  
"Fine" said Cid, already steering the ship in the direction of Aeris' house for Barret.  
  
"Oh...and Cloud?" he said, the thought suddenly hitting him.  
  
"Whatever"  
  
"Cloud, where do you wanna go???"  
  
Cloud didn't reply to Cid's demand. He just stood there scowling.  
  
"Cloud! Where the hell do you wanna go????" yelled Cid  
  
"Temple of the Ancients." He said quietly  
  
"Wah? But...the temple of the ancient's is....."  
  
"Where it used to be then."  
  
.............He's going for Aeris.........  
  
Cid made no reply to Cloud, he just continued steering.  
  
Tifa watched Cloud walk away from the group, facing another wall.  
  
Tifa was almost certain she heard him mumble:  
  
"Aeris"  
  
.Aeris. ..Aeris.. ...Aeris... ....Aeris.... .....Aeris..... ......Aeris......  
  
***********************  
  
Tifa awoke, rubbing her eyes.  
  
It seemed that during her reminisce she had drifted into sleep.  
  
But the events were all correct.  
  
It all happened.  
  
............Cloud did say Aeris............  
  
Tifa groaned slightly at the thought, but soon laid back onto her pillow, drifting back to sleep with the promise of seeing Cloud again tomorrow for the first time in two whole years. 


	2. Reunion

Love-hearts  
  
Part 2-Reunion  
  
"Tifa!" Yuffie yelled, hugging Tifa.  
  
"Hiya Yuffie" Said Tifa, smiling warmly at her.  
  
'Yuffie hasn't changed very much' thought Tifa. 'Except that she seems a bit more loving.'  
  
Tifa looked around.  
  
Cid appeared to be telling Red some story or other; Barret was vaguely shaking his head, most likely it was aimed at Cid's bigheaded attitude.  
  
.........Cloud wasn't there.............  
  
"Erm...Yuffie where's Vincent?" Tifa asked casually  
  
Yuffie blushed slightly  
  
"I don't know if he's coming, he left Wutai a few months ago."  
  
"Why did he leave Yuffie?"  
  
"He said he needed to find himself," She said in a voice that implied admiration  
  
Tifa paused, should she ask?  
  
"Do you know were Cloud is?" She blurted out suddenly  
  
Yuffie looked slightly saddened, she knew how Tifa felt about Cloud.  
  
"No I don't know, sorry Tifa..."  
  
"That's okay." She said heavily  
  
Yuffie paused for a second, then said "I'm sure he'll turn up"  
  
Tifa stared at Yuffie for a second  
  
"Yeh, I hope so," she said with a smile.  
  
Just then, Vincent appeared on the scene  
  
"Vincent!" yelled Yuffie, dashing up to him and hugging him.  
  
Vincent went slightly red, "Erm, hi Yuffie"  
  
Yuffie pulled away from Vincent, smiling widely  
  
"It's great to see you again, why did you take so long to get back?"  
  
"It doesn't matter Yuffie, I'm ready to come home now."  
  
"YYYYEEEEEYYYY!!!!!!" She cheered hugging him again  
  
Red looked around at everyone's bemused faces  
  
"Did I miss something?" He asked in confusion  
  
"QQQQQUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Screeched a chocobo  
  
Tifa smiled, whatever had possessed Cloud to want them to meet here?  
  
"Geez stupid bloody Chocobo" Said Cid, sounding annoyed.  
  
"Calm down Cid" Cloud said, arriving at the opposite end of the Chocobo field, vaguely petting the Chocobo nuzzling him.  
  
"Cloud!" yelled Tifa, dashing over to him  
  
"Your so late! I thought you weren't coming!" she scolded  
  
"Calm down Tif' " He said calmly.  
  
"Oh Cloud!" She said, tears forming in her eyes, "I was afraid you wouldn't come!"  
  
Tifa suddenly hugged Cloud, tears running down her face.  
  
Cloud looked very awkward, "Tifa, of course I was gonna come...."  
  
"Yeh but I was worried...." She started, but she was cut off my Yuffie bounding over to say hello.  
  
Tifa then smiled, and simply walked away, leaving Cloud to be drowned it greetings, questions, and stories.  
  
***************************************************************  
  
Sitting on a bench, watching the sun go down, and listening to the almost melodic sounds of the chocobo's, which had become less of Squawk's, and more of high pitched hums, was Tifa.  
  
She was tired by the day's events, and was ready to check in at the nearest inn. It was far too late to head home.  
  
"Hey" came Clouds voice  
  
Tifa jumped, and turned to see Cloud sitting at her side.  
  
"Oh! Cloud, I, I didn't see you there..." She said softly  
  
"Clearly"  
  
Tifa paused,  
  
"Hey Cloud, erm how've you been, have you, have you...." She stopped  
  
Cloud stared at her, trying to read her expression. All's he saw was her questioning face.  
  
"Haveyoumetanyone?" Said Tifa in one breath  
  
Tifa went a vivid shade of scarlet.  
  
Cloud looked puzzled for a second, whilst he ran over what she had said in his head, trying to decipher her words. Eventually he understood.  
  
"No." He said flatly  
  
"Oh"  
  
They both sat there, in silence for a few more minutes.  
  
"How's Nibelheim?" He questioned  
  
She changed her eye line from the ground to his face, and then back again.  
  
"Nibelheim's fine. I had some problem's getting the house back. But I met some people who helped me."  
  
She paused  
  
"Cloud where have you been?"  
  
"Nowhere much."  
  
'Don't pursue it. Don't pursue it.' Tifa thought desperately. But she wanted to know. But he didn't want to tell. But eventually she managed to defeat her impulse to ask Cloud for further details of how he'd been spending his time, an instead asked him:  
  
"Where are you going now?"  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"It's far too late to start going back now..." She paused. Go back where? Where was Cloud staying??? So she added,  
  
"Isn't it?"  
  
Cloud thought for a second  
  
"Yeh I guess so."  
  
"So where are you going now?"  
  
"..... I guess I need to find a place to stay..."  
  
"Damn right!" Said Yuffie, yet again, seemingly appearing out of no-where.  
  
"Erm, hi Yuffie?" Said Tifa in a voice that implied confusion.  
  
Cloud just sat there and blinked stupidly.  
  
"Erm...do you have somewhere in mind Yuffie?"  
  
"Nope" She said smiling "I just wanted to make sure ya know that me and Vincent have dibs on the beds here!"  
  
Tifa and Cloud looked at each other in a bemused way.  
  
"Well." Yuffie began "There simply isn't enough space for us all to stay here at the chocobo ranch"  
  
That was true. When they had visited the ranch before, they had all had to share.  
  
Desperate times had called for desperate measures.  
  
But there was no need for that anymore.  
  
"Well Yuffie then where's everyone else staying?" Said Cloud in a slightly agitated voice.  
  
Staying at the ranch was what he had planned to do.  
  
"Weeeeeeell" she began, sounding younger than she did two years ago.  
  
"Red set off home hours ago, so that he could get there before dark"  
  
"Really?" Said Tifa, feeling hurt. "I never got to say goodbye..."  
  
"Oh yeh.... he said sorry...but he was REALLY rushing...."  
  
"Okay" Said Tifa, still feeling a little bit saddened at the fact that she might not see Red for another 2 years, and she hadn't had the chance to say goodbye.  
  
"And Cid's giving Barret a lift on the highwind before he heads back to Rocket Town, but you know, if you hurry, he'll probably give you both a lift home too."  
  
Wait! Tifa's froze. Going.....home.  
  
Away from Cloud  
  
For who-knows how long?  
  
"Nah" Said Cloud, standing up.  
  
"Hmmmm? What do YOU have in mind?" Said Yuffie leaning over and eyeing Cloud, a wide grin on her face for an unaparent reason.  
  
"Me and Tifa will go to the NEXT town to rest tonight!"  
  
Tifa stared up at Cloud. Did he really mean that? He wanted to go all the way to another town, alone, with her???  
  
"Really Cloud?" She asked, standing up next to him.  
  
He turned to her,  
  
"Erm, yeh sure"  
  
Cloud turned fully around to look at her; the two were facing each other, and barely inches apart.  
  
Yuffie looked from one to the other.  
  
"Ooooh! Really!" She said, winking at Cloud  
  
"Go for it Cloud!"  
  
Tifa went bright red.  
  
"Yuffie, this isn't the time......" Tifa mumbled  
  
"Your right! I'll leave you two alone!" She said, sunshine practically beaming out of her at them.  
  
Then Yuffie bounded off, over to Vincent.  
  
Cloud and Tifa stared after her.  
  
Tifa sighed.  
  
"It's almost like having a bratty little sister..."  
  
"Oh come on..." He said smiling after Yuffie. "She's not THAT bad!"  
  
Tifa gave Cloud a sceptical look.  
  
After a pause: "Well...maybe" He said with a light laugh.  
  
Tifa felt it was the time to change the subject to something more important  
  
"So Cloud, which town are we going to?"  
  
Cloud thought for a while.  
  
"Well, I don't want to go to Midgar, somewhere quieter..."  
  
Quiet? As in....more...Private????  
  
"But we don't want to go too far, so I guess it's Calm"  
  
"Oh that sounds lovely!"  
  
Cloud nodded.  
  
"And, how do we get there?"  
  
Cloud then smiled  
  
"I think this place still rents out chocobo's, and I've got some gill, if we set off soon we can get to Calm before it gets too dark."  
  
"Great! Then to Calm we go!"  
  
********************************************************************* Thanx for reading! So Erm plleeeeaaaaaaaaaasssssseeeeeeeeeeeee review.or I won't write a third chapter! ^___^ Or email me at ryouko_misaki@hotmail.com Thanx! 


	3. Not so Kalm

Chapter 3-Not so Kalm  
  
Hiya.... okay I don't own FF7...haha.... I wish...^^ BIG BIG Thanx to everyone who reviewed...this fic is here because of you! ^_____^ Well here we go...PLEASE review again...Thanx! :D  
  
And big thanx to the person who pointed out my spelling error ^^;;  
  
Chapter 3-Not so Kalm  
  
The journey to Kalm had been quite uneventful. Tifa shared Cloud's Chocobo to Kalm, as, to his dismay, he discovered that his funds wouldn't cover two chocobo's and a room at an inn.  
  
Although Tifa had wanted to talk to Cloud, Cloud had just seemed to want to sit in silence. So, with no more than a few sentences exchanged, most of which came from Tifa, they had arrived at Kalm, gone to the inn, and gone to their room.  
  
Tifa sat on the end of the bed. She felt just like she did the night before the reunion. She felt just as alone. She wished Cloud would say something to her, yet all's he did was stand at the opposite end of the room with his back to her. Bored with lack of conversation and activity, Tifa simply stared over at him; he looked just like he did 2 years ago. All's that seemed to have changed were his clothes, he currently had adopted a shirt and a pair of jeans. He looked so..... Tifa blushed slightly as thoughts whirled through her head  
  
........He looks great..........  
  
She sat watching him for a little longer, vaguely subdued in her thoughts, until she was broken away from them by Cloud. He suddenly turned around and said in a voice that implied annoyance, "Aren't you tired yet?" "Huh?" She hadn't thought about it, she'd been so busy thinking and staring that she hadn't noticed how tired she felt. "Erm...yeh, a bit...." Tifa yawned, Cloud raised his eyebrow, "A bit?" Tifa looked annoyed herself for a second, but eventually replied, "I guess I'll go to sleep." Cloud nodded. Tifa stood there for a second, why was he being so cold towards her? 'Maybe he's just tired too' she thought hopefully. 'I guess I'll just get changed and....' Her thoughts halted, 'damn' she thought, 'why didn't I think ahead?' She had no change of clothes. She sighed. She seemed to be having a deja vu, sleeping in her clothes, just like 2 years ago. Again, time was repeating itself. Resigned to sleeping in clothes, Tifa took off her jacket, and put it in the back of the chair. She gave one more longing glance at Cloud, and then clambered into the bed.  
  
***************  
  
Tifa was running, running towards Cloud, but as much as she ran, the further away he seemed. She called out his name, but he seemed not to hear her, she called him again, he turned and smiled at her. She finally reached him, and slowed to a halt. "Cloud..." Suddenly Cloud was slept away by an eerie green light, and she was falling, falling, falling. She suddenly stopped in mid air; Aeris was there, "Aeris?" She asked in disbelief, Aeris looked at her, and then screamed. Tifa turned around and saw Sephiroth above her, his sword heading straight for her, Tifa screamed, as the blade ran through her. She fell to the floor in a pool of blood. As the life faded from her eyes, she saw Aeris kiss Cloud.  
  
***************  
  
Cloud sat a chair, thinking. Why was everything so complicated? Why did things always have to go wrong? Why...why did Aeris have to die? He stopped thinking for a few seconds to concentrate his energy on not getting too upset.  
  
'But there's still Tifa...' he reasoned with himself, 'but she's not Aeris. But....But no-one is Aeris, except the girl at the bottom of the lake.' 'NO. Not the lake, the life-stream, a better place? No. Aeris was always thinking about the future, about our lives. She never thought that her's would end so suddenly, or did she? Did she plan it to end that way?' Cloud sighed. Even after two years of thinking this over, it still didn't make sense to him. All's his thoughts over that time had done was make it so that he could deal with it. He didn't even know if he could now.  
  
But at least he had Tifa. He reasoned. She stopped. 'Did I just think that? But Tifa is my childhood friend...Tifa is....' his thoughts were stopped by a noise. He turned around and saw Tifa, turning in her bed, tears running down her face. Cloud rose from his seat and walked over to her, crouching at her side. "Aeris?" She mumbled. Aeris. The number of times he must have uttered her name in his sleep....  
  
Tifa let out a muffled scream, and suddenly sat up. Cloud jumped back in surprise, banging his head on the bed next to Tifa's. Tifa looked around, "I...guess I had a nightmare..." she said dazedly. "Aw crap" She turned, to see Cloud sitting in the gap between the two beds, rubbing the back of his head. "Oh! Are you okay?" Tifa said, pulling back the covers and leaning over to inspect the damage, Cloud opened one eye, "Yeh I think." He stood up and said in a slightly worried tone, "Are you okay?" "Me?" Tifa asked in surprise, "Oh...I'm fine...." She said, going red.  
  
"Good." Tifa glanced over at him, feeling slightly disappointed by his transition in feeling, from caring to not. "Goodnight then" She said, resting her head back onto her pillow sadly. "Erm, Tifa?" "Yes?" She said enthusiastically, sitting up again. "You, you said Aeris in your sleep, why?" "Oh that..." Tifa said, with disappointment. "I can't remember" she lied, resting her head back onto her pillow. "You definatly...." he started "See you in the morning" She said, breaking him off, and therefore preventing any further discussion on Aeris.  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
Thank you again to my reviewers, PLEASE review again! Note: This next chapter was done so quickly because I got reviews! ^____^ Thank you! 


	4. Angel Face

Part4-  
  
I hope no-one thinks that I've made Tifa OOC or that I've just generally written a bad chapter, but it's just a way for Tifa to express her feeling's ^__^ Big thanx to everyone who's reviewed, and to the people who e-mailed me. ^__^ I was asked if this had more chapters to come, and yes, if people want them.  
  
Part4-Angel Face  
  
Tifa awoke with a yawn. She stared around bleary eyed, "Cloud" She mumbled, turning her head to look over at his bed "Cloud, are you awake?" She clambered out of her bed and approached his, rubbing her eyes vaguely. "Cloud?" She reiterated, as she gently pulled back his covers, awaiting the sight of.... Pillows. "Pillows??" She yelled in annoyance. "Cloud??" She shouted, storming across the room and banging on the bathroom door, "Cloud are you in there?" No reply. "CLOUD???" She shouted angrily. Why was she so angry? Why did she need to know where he was so desperately? Her thoughts bounced across her head as her body stormed around her room. "Where the hell has he gone?" She grabbed her jacket off the back of the chair and opened the door with such force that some of the paint cracked and fell off onto the carpet. She stormed out of the room, leaving it ajar, steadily swinging on its hinges, not even caring about locking it. She dashed down the stairs of the Inn, skidding to a halt at the desk, "Has a guy with spiked blonde hair check out?" She asked the bewildered women behind the desk, urgency in her every syllable. "Erm, he may have checked out, I could check..." Tifa was outside the inn before she could finish her sentence, she dashed into the centre of the town, "Cloud!" Her worry was rising, her emotions high, she began to feel dizzy, so she slowly slumped down by the nearest wall. "Cloud...." She said, her energy seeping away from her. 'What happened? What was that out-burst all about? Why was I so worried?' 'All's that's wrong is that I didn't know where was...' Tears welled up in her eyes, 'that's it...I....I...just can't bear the thought of losing him...again...' Tears ran down her face, and a sense of embarrassment filled her...how she had just acted was, simply, un-rational. 'I must be a complete nervous wreck, but, Cloud means so much to me....I couldn't stand for him to leave me alone....' She sat there against the wall, trying to pull herself together, whilst fervently rubbing tears out of her eyes.  
  
"Tifa?" Tifa's head snapped up, "CLOUD!" She flung her arms around his neck and cried into his shoulder. "Tifa....what the hells wrong?" "Oh Cloud.....I.....I....didn't know where you were and....and....." she broke off, and began crying again, louder than before. Cloud had a confused expression plastered across his face, "Are you okay?" He asked kindly, The crying girl lifted her head off his shoulder, staring at him with tear filled eyes, "Yes, I am" She said in a calmer voice, and as she rested her head gently back onto his shoulder, she murmured, "Now."  
  
***********************  
  
Cloud and Tifa walked up the stairs back to their room, Tifa still feeling slightly embarrassed over her 'demonic' behaviour, which turned out to be over Cloud taking a walk. As they approached, Cloud suddenly looked panicky, "The doors open!", he made a motion as if to dash towards the door, but Tifa grabbed his arm, "Its okay, I left it open..." "Oh..." He instantly calmed down.  
  
Tifa walked over the thresh-hold of the door first, "Oh no!" She exclaimed "What?" Cloud walked in, he scanned his eyes over the room, stopping his pivoting eye-line suddenly as he saw all of the drawers pulled out, he walked over and knelt down, checking to see what was in the drawers, or what wasn't. "Damn!" "What's gone Cloud?" She said nervously "Money....the rest of the moneys gone..." "Oh..."  
  
The Chocobo rental fee had risen substantially in the last two years, and the price currently was equal to about 6 stays in a hotel, therefore even though Cloud couldn't pay for two Chocobo's to Kalm, he still had plenty of money left to pay for the two to stay at a few Inn's. But the money was gone. Stolen. Tifa sat down heavily onto the bed, her head in her hands. "This is all my fault," She moaned. Cloud sighed, trudging over to her, "It's not your fault Tifa...." "It is!" she whined, "With me and my behaviour.....when I was acting like...some kind of demon..."  
  
Cloud sat on the bed and put his arm around her, he managed a soft laugh, "You? A demon?" He laughed again, "I can't imagine anyone applying 'demon' that about that angelic face"  
  
Well, thanx for reading, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE review, even if you've already reviewed another chapter -_-' I'm not continuing without them! ^___________^ And yes I know these past 2 chapters have been slightly less calm then the first two, if that is very bad, do tell me! Again thanx for reading ^_^ Oh yeh and feel free to ask me questions! 


	5. Lunacy

Chapter 5-Lunacy  
  
Well sorry for the delay in this chapter.....no review's.....no enthusiasm.....no energy....^_^;; Please review again!  
  
Chapter 5-Lunacy  
  
Cloud sighed, trudging over to her, "It's not your fault Tifa...." "It is!" she whined, "With me and my behaviour.....when I was acting like...some kind of demon..."  
  
Cloud sat on the bed and put his arm around her, he managed a soft laugh, "You? A demon?" He laughed again, "I can't imagine anyone applying 'demon' that about that angelic face"  
  
Tifa's head snapped up, what had he said? Had he REALLY just said that???  
  
He instantly turned red, looking as though he regretted it.  
  
"What I mean is, I, oh crap" He mumbled.  
  
Tifa stared up at him, disappointment coursing through her.  
  
'He regrets it. I guess he'll really only ever love Aeris.'  
  
With these thoughts still running through her, she began to cry.  
  
'Why am I being so emotional?' She thought through her sadness, 'I was never like this before...'  
  
"Tifa, I...I didn't think I would offend you I...."  
  
He had misunderstood her. He had taken her tears the wrong way completely.  
  
"Tifa I...."  
  
And she kissed him.  
  
She turned around and pecked him on the lips.  
  
For what had lasted less than a second had, to Tifa, been an eternity.  
  
As soon as she moved her lips away from his, she turned the brightest shade of crimson every to grace a colour chart.  
  
Cloud stared up at her, as if the information of what had just happened was still being sent to his brain.  
  
But Tifa stood up and walked out of the door before he had had chance to work out what had just happened.  
  
*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*% *%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%  
  
Tifa sat in the lobby of the inn, feeling very embarrassed. What had she been thinking? Kissing him?? What a stupid thing to do!!! 'He probably won't even travel with me anymore....I'm going to be on my own.....' She paused, and realised that her thoughts didn't match how she saw Cloud. 'He surely wouldn't do that to me' She paused again 'Would he?'  
  
She was suddenly distracted from her thoughts by Cloud making his appearance in the lobby, at the bottom of the staircase.  
  
........He was acting as if nothing had happened.........  
  
"So Tifa! Ready to go yet?" "Huh?" How could he be acting so normal? Why was he acting so normal? "Are you ready to go to Junon yet?" "Er, yeh, sure..." She said uncertainly "Great!" He said, walking past her, and then stopping and turning at the entrance of the inn, "Come on then!" At this point she awoke from her confused daze. "Oh, sure! Wait up Cloud!" She exclaimed, standing up and dashing over to him.  
  
****  
  
"So how are we getting to Junon Cloud?" "We have no money, so, walking." "Walking???" "Yeh sure." "But Cloud, we can't get past that, that snake creature!" "We don't have to." "What?!?!"  
  
'What's he talking about? There's no other way! He's really starting to confuse me...' Tifa mentally complained.  
  
"How else are we going to get to Junon Cloud? We have no money to get a chocobo to cross the marsh!" "We don't have to cross It..." "What do you mean? How else do you propose to get across???" "Climbing" He said flatly.  
  
....................Climbing?.....................  
  
Tifa paused for a few seconds, trying to allow Clouds lunacy to settle in. When it finally did, she came to one simple conclusion: "You're joking!" She said with triumph "Not at all! You can climb it right Tifa?" She thought about it. She had the strength to climb it, her skirt wasn't constraining, nor would any other item of her clothing on her person. Maybe she really could do it? It wasn't really so high.... "Of course I can!" She finally concluded, motivated by the impulse to prove herself to not only herself, but also, and more importantly to Cloud.  
  
"Great!" He said with a smile "Are you ready to go?" "Sure!"  
  
Thanx a lot for reading! I know there's been a huge delay in this chapter, and I'm very sorry. I'm going on holiday soon but I hope to write another chapter before I go. ^_^ 


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